Click2Scan Ltd 6 Whitworth Road Frome Somerset BA11 4BY T: 0845 873 8600 E: info@c2s.co.uk W: www.c2s.co.uk The Case for Digital Mailroom A White Paper April 2014
Introduction Every business receives correspondence on a daily basis, and it s the efficiency with which that correspondence is handled that affects the overall performance and reputation of the company. And the larger the company, the more correspondence there is likely to be, giving a greater need for improved and streamlined handling. Otherwise it s simply a drain on resources and renders the business inefficient. The Digital Mailroom transforms a manual, administrative department into a high-tech hub, initiating internal business workflows and automated outbound responses with speed and efficiency. This paper sets out to follow the process of the Digital Mailroom, tracking mail on its journey from arrival into the business, through its handling process and distribution until it reaches its ultimate destination, an electronic archive. The process is streamlined using intelligent technology, designed to significantly reduce the amount of human intervention throughout. We also consider whether paper documents can be completely replaced by electronic versions, and the legal position of presenting original paper or electronic documents in court. Let s examine the benefits of the Digital Mailroom in more detail, for they are far reaching and felt across an entire organisation. Benefits of Digital Mailroom Saves time, mail is handled and delivered in a fraction of the time Saves space, no need for storage accommodation Initiates workflow protocols and assigns responsibilities Improves security and eliminates the incidence of lost documents Improves customer service through faster, more efficient productivity Reduces waiting times through tracking documents and identifying delays Reduces costs due to increased efficiency and productivity Increases opportunity to gain competitive advantage Open up more selling opportunities Adheres to regulatory compliance Facilitates greater management control Reduces the need for storage of physical files and documents Better for business continuity electronic documents are retrievable from anywhere Reduced fire risk where there is less paper Increased job satisfaction from more productive staff
This extensive list of benefits adds significant weight to the argument for investment in digital mailroom technology. It s an opportunity to transform an entire organisation into a much more efficient machine. Some say that adoption of this technology was a defining moment for their business, making a significant impact on their overall profitability. So, where do we start? Let s take a look in more detail at the digital journey through the business, the technology and processes required to make it work. The process Opening the mail Inbound documents in the majority of businesses arrive in either paper or digital format. An effective process must encompass both, treating mail in a uniform way, following the same classification, action and routing process. Let s look at paper mail first. It arrives, it needs opening! And this is the starting point for the technical revolution. Automated envelope openers and separators will help speed up this part of the process, working up to 100 times faster than manual workers. And whilst envelopes arrive in all manner of shapes and sizes, the technology exists to cope with this variation. It s important to match specific company requirements with the right equipment to ensure optimum performance. Separation The task of separating the mail into its component parts is still a manual process. Each piece of mail needs sorting according to the amount of documents in the envelope to ensure multi-page documents are scanned and classified as one. QR codes or barcodes act as separators to automate the separation process during feeding into the scanning machines Physical attachments such as staples and paper clips will of course need to be removed prior to scanning. Scanning Advanced scanners, designed for handling huge volumes of mail, will have robust paper feeds that can handle to up to A3 size paper. Both sides of a sheet can be scanned simultaneously, and any blank pages removed. It s essential of course to invest in a good quality scanner, one that can cope with multiple size and weight of documents, detect correct page orientation and enhance images. Scanning to a high quality resolution is imperative to allow for accurate optical character recognition (OCR) required for the next process of classification.
Speeds of between 75 and 200 pages per minute can be expected, depending on the scanner model. So you can achieve up to 10,000 pages a day from one good quality, robust scanner. Scanned documents are now in electronic format, just like emails, and at this stage, all mail is handled according to set company protocols. Emails Email attachments can be saved with their accompanying email using a processing server that will create one folder for the entire contents of an email. Email headers, addresses and subject lines are also fed into the OCR software to aid classification. Classification Classification of correspondence is required to aid the routing and distribution process, to identify which department the correspondence should be sent to. Classification needs to mirror the structure of the company i.e. it must be departmentalised according to whether it is destined for the accounts department, sales, marketing, HR and so on. Rules are set up so the software treats incoming mail according to its content and OCR technology will identify certain parameters to help it direct mail accurately. For example, it can be programmed to search for the word invoice, order, job application etc. It s helpful to introduce a system of document coding, using reference numbers that can be easily associated with a department, or even an individual within a department. The more sophisticated this area of the process is, the more accurate the routing of mail will be. It s worth spending time to set it up carefully. Time spent at this stage will be repaid in dividends many times over. Verification Inevitably, there will be items of mail that cannot be recognised, though over time this will diminish as systems learn new key identifiers. Classification technology allows for setting confidence thresholds where it routes any documents of concern to the verification team for human intervention. This ensures high degrees of accuracy to ensure documents are not mis-routed or stuck in the wrong queue. So, now we have mail that has been scanned, and accurately classified. It is ready to move on to the next stage of the process. This can be either via i) Distribution or routing to the correct department or individual, ii) Or to trigger an automated outbound response. Routing The distribution process can be programmed to take into account the workload of each individual in a department carrying out the same role, to distribute work evenly, and to allow for employee absences. This will ensure minimum time delays in dealing with the correspondence. Digital mailroom technology can be designed to integrate at this stage with existing business systems. Emails can be sent, databases updated and queues fed evenly.
And key to the smooth running of this part of the operation, is a management overview of where documents are at any given time. This allows them to identify if a document is being held up, has been misrouted or gone astray, so they are able to initiate corrective action. Automated outbound responses Some correspondence may require a simple automated response. For example, sending out a confirmation of receipt or a certificate of membership. This is also an opportunity to cross sell other services or products based on customers purchasing habits and loyalty to the brand. Digital mailroom technology brings department correspondence together, combining invoice statements with monthly offers, technology updates with subscription renewals and so on. It allows for a more sophisticated marketing campaign strategy, turning existing client insight into a competitive advantage via continuous pertinent dialogue with the customer, adding significant value to the overall investment. Electronic Storage With the intelligent recognition working out what all the documents are, and with the routing making sure then documents are sent to the right people, the next step is to ensure the documents are kept secure in a central location. A document management system installed as part of a Digital Mailroom Solution will provide a secure repository for inbound documents. It will also enable fast retrieval at any point in the future of any of these documents using simple search. Expanding the document management, department by department, to include hard-copy documents already on shelves or existing PDF s in network shares is a natural choice as the organization can systematically and structurally push forward toward the paper-less utopian dream.